The day-old chick: the first 30 days specialisation
Choose, order, receive and start a flock without losing a chick
Introduction
Everything is decided in the first 30 days. A day-old chick weighs about forty grams, cannot yet regulate its own temperature and lives on the reserve of its yolk: what it finds on arrival, water at the right temperature, a warm floor, feed within reach of its beak, light that shows it where to go, decides the rest of the flock. This is the heart of NEXTEKCI's trade in Agnibilékrou (Côte d'Ivoire), and this specialisation of the NEXTEKCI School passes it on day by day, at the level of a technician: choosing your chick (white broiler, coloured chicken, brown layer) and recognising a good day-old chick; ordering and booking at the right time, collecting at NEXTEKCI or at the arrival of one of the three transport routes, receiving and counting the boxes; preparing a house that is warm since the day before; getting through the first 72 hours with the crop check; managing week 1 and then weeks 2 to 4 (heat, water, feed, light, brooder guard, ventilation, weighing); reading starting mortality and knowing when to call the local veterinarian; avoiding the ten mistakes of the first month. Every notion is explained simply, then put into figures on an example flock of 2,000 chicks, with the field action. Lesson 9 is an exercise on your own farm: keeping the record of the first 30 days. Lesson 10 is a case study: a flock that starts badly, turned around before day ten. No prices, no medication: methods, benchmarks and actions. Open from free registration.
By the end of this specialisation, you will be able to
- ✓Choose the type of chick suited to your market and your house, recognise a good day-old chick, order and book at the right time, organise collection or arrival by a route and the reception of the boxes
- ✓Prepare a house ready since the day before (floor heat, litter, water, feed, brooder guard, light) and succeed in the first 72 hours: water first, feed next, a full crop in more than 9 chicks out of 10 at 24 hours
- ✓Manage the first four weeks with the temperature curve, the water and feed benchmarks, the lighting, the widening of the guard, ventilation and weekly weighing compared with the weight targets
- ✓Tell normal starting mortality from abnormal mortality, know when to call and what to send, keep the record of the first 30 days and turn around a flock that starts badly before day ten
10 lessons · a 5-question quiz after each lesson · an exam (20 questions, 80%) · verifiable specialisation certificate. Specialisation open to every registered student, in any order.
- 1Choosing your chick: white broiler, coloured, layer, and what a good day-old chick tells you
Everything you will do for thirty days depends on a decision taken before the first box arrives: which chick, for which buyer, in which house, with what experience. In levels 1 and 2, you learned the types of chicks and the actions of reception. Here, you learn to choose like a professional: compare the three trades with figures, base the choice on your market and your house, then judge a batch of day-old chicks criterion by criterion, scale in hand, before placing them.
What you will learn- ✓Compare the three trades (white broiler, coloured chickens, brown layer) and the cockerel on quantified technical criteria
- ✓Base the choice of chick on four questions: the buyer, the house, the feed available, the experience
- ✓Judge a batch of day-old chicks criterion by criterion and measure its average weight and its uniformity
- ✓Read a batch when the boxes are opened and decide what to record and what to report the same day
Lesson outline- Three trades, not three colours
- Four questions before choosing
- What a good day-old chick tells you, criterion by criterion
- The arrival weighing: a worked example
- Reading the batch when the boxes are opened
- Going further
Key points- •Three trades: white broiler (35-45 days, demanding, heat-sensitive), coloured chickens (hardy, longer cycle), brown layer (eggs, long cycle, Marek before leaving NEXTEKCI); the cockerel for learning.
- •Four questions before choosing: who buys and when, which house (5 per m² in heat, NEXTEKCI's advice; manufacturers 8 to 10), which feed in bags, what experience.
- •Good chick: 38-45 g, lively, round eyes, closed dry navel, waxy straight legs, dry down; uniform batch if more than 80% of chicks are within ± 10% of the average (CV under 10%).
- •Arrival weighing of 100 chicks (5%): 4,100 g ÷ 100 = 41 g; day 7 target = 41 × 4 = 164 g.
- •Zero point of the record sheet: received, dead on arrival, weak isolated, average weight, uniformity; photos to +225 05 44 83 27 79 the same day in case of doubt.
14 min read · 5-question quiz
- 2Ordering and booking: when, how many, collection at NEXTEKCI or at the arrival of a route, transport
A successful flock begins with a calendar, not with a box. In level 1, you learned to place a complete order on WhatsApp. Here, you learn to build it like a professional: start from the sale date to find the order date, calculate the number of boxes with density and expected losses, choose between collection in Agnibilékrou and the arrival of a route, organise transport that dehydrates no chick, and receive the boxes with a counting method that gives reliable figures from the first hour.
What you will learn- ✓Build the backward calendar of a flock, from the sale date to the order date and the sanitary break
- ✓Calculate the number of chicks and boxes to order from the floor area, the season, the buyers and the expected losses
- ✓Choose the collection mode (NEXTEKCI, arrival of a route, own transporter) and organise transport without losses
- ✓Receive the boxes with a reliable counting method and judge transport mortality
Lesson outline- The backward calendar: you start from the sale
- How many to order: floor area, season, buyers, losses
- The order on WhatsApp: four pieces of information, one planning
- Collection at NEXTEKCI, arrival of a route or your own transporter
- Organising transport: hours, vehicle, journey
- Receiving the boxes: check, count, judge
- Going further
Key points- •Backward calendar: sale → arrival of the chicks (42 days before for a white broiler) → departure the evening before (Monday or Thursday) → order 15 days to 4 weeks before → sanitary break of 14 days + 2 days of preheating.
- •How many: floor area × 5 per m² in heat (NEXTEKCI's advice; manufacturers 8 to 10) → 400 m² = 2,000 = 40 boxes; 240 m² = 1,200; margin on livability: 1,900 ÷ 0.95 = 2,000.
- •Order on WhatsApp at +225 07 07 72 78 67: type, boxes of 50, town or collection point, date; minimum 50 for collection, 200 by transporter; payment in advance = place confirmed.
- •Three routes from Agnibilékrou (Bouaké; Daloa; Abidjan Yopougon), collection at NEXTEKCI or own transporter: chicks available everywhere in Côte d'Ivoire; shortest journey, cool hours, covered and ventilated vehicle, never in the sun.
- •Reception: count by the box inside the guard, dead on arrival on a separate line; normal transport mortality ≤ 0.5% (≤ 10 on 2,000); above 1%, photos the same day; WhatsApp follow-up for 72 h.
14 min read · 5-question quiz
- 3Preparing the house before arrival: heat, litter, water, feed, brooder guard, light
On the day the boxes arrive, it is too late to prepare. A cold floor does not warm up in an hour, damp litter does not dry while you unload, a drinker filled at the last minute gives water that is too cool. In level 1, you learned the checklist for the day before; here, you learn to build it yourself, figure by figure, for a flock of 2,000 chicks: how many brooders, what circle diameter, how many drinkers, how many kilos of feed on the paper, when to light up. A house that is ready on time is half of a successful start.
What you will learn- ✓Build the preparation countdown, from the sanitary break to two hours before arrival
- ✓Size the brooding area: number of brooders, circle diameter, lighting-up time according to the floor
- ✓Calculate the water and feed equipment for a given flock and place it correctly
- ✓Write and sign the checklist for the day before, and refuse an arrival if one point is missing
Lesson outline- The countdown: from the sanitary break to H−2
- Heat: the floor matters more than the air
- Litter: material, depth, dryness
- Water: calculate, place, temper
- Feed: trays, paper, stock
- The guard and the light
- The checklist for the day before
- Going further
Key points- •Countdown: sanitary break 14 days, litter and circles at D−3, lighting up at D−2 (concrete) or D−1 (earth), water and feed at H−2.
- •The floor matters more than the air: 32 to 34 °C under the edge of the brooder at chick height, litter at 30 to 32 °C, warm to the hand; never light up on the morning itself.
- •For 2,000 chicks: 4 brooders + 1 spare, 4 circles 4 m in diameter (500 at 40-50 per m²), 28 to 32 mini-drinkers, 40 trays, 120 kg of feed on paper, 6 to 7 bags in stock.
- •Dry litter of 5 to 8 cm (8 to 10 in the rains); water and feed never under the brooder; light 23 h, newspaper readable on the floor; no draught at chick height; high opening always open.
- •Checklist signed the day before, with figures; a missing point is corrected during the night or postpones the flock.
15 min read · 5-question quiz
- 4The first 72 hours: reception, counting, drinking, crop fill, floor temperature
Between the moment the transporter opens his vehicle and the end of the third day, the chick moves from the yolk that was still feeding it to the water and feed of your farm. These 72 hours cannot be made up. In level 1, you learned the actions; here, you put figures and times on them, to the hour, on the example flock of 2,000 chicks: how many dead at opening is normal, how many litres must disappear on the first day, how many full crops out of 20 at 8 hours and at 24 hours, what to correct within fifteen minutes when the night reading is not right.
What you will learn- ✓Run the reception hour by hour, from the collection point to the end of the third day, with a figure as a benchmark at each step
- ✓Count and set the zero point of the flock: received, dead at opening, weak ones isolated, and judge whether transport mortality is normal
- ✓Measure the success of drinking and feeding: litres drunk on the first day, feet at 4 hours, crops at 8 and 24 hours
- ✓Read the floor temperature from the way the chicks spread out and correct within fifteen minutes, especially during the first night
Lesson outline- Reception hour by hour
- Counting and setting the zero point
- Drinking: the first victory
- The crop: proof in figures
- Floor temperature and the first night
- Days 2 and 3: setting up the routine
- Going further
Key points- •Reception hour by hour: collection point in the shade and immediate departure, boxes opened in the warm house, water first, feed 2 to 3 hours later, feet at 4-6 h, crop at 8 h and 24 h.
- •Zero point = received − dead at opening; normal transport mortality at most 0.5 % (10 out of 2,000); above 1 %, photos and video the same day to +225 05 44 83 27 79.
- •A white broiler chick drinks about 20 mL on the first day (40 L for 2,000) and consumption rises every day; drinkers still full in the evening = chicks not drinking, cause to be found within the hour.
- •Full, soft crop on 20 chicks per circle: at least 80 % at 8 hours, more than 90 % and ideally 95 % at 24 hours; full and hard = not enough drunk; empty = not found.
- •Look at the spread, then the thermometer, then the feet against the cheek; round every 2 hours on the first night; correction within 15 minutes; call from 1 % dead in one day.
15 min read · 5-question quiz
- 5Week 1: temperature, water, feed, light, and the signs that say all is well
The first 72 hours are over: the chicks have drunk, eaten and slept in the warm. Now begins the week that makes the chicken. From day 1 to day 7, the white broiler chick multiplies its weight by four, its gut and its skeleton are built, and every degree too many or too few, every litre of water not drunk, every badly set hour of light is paid for right up to sale. In level 1, you learned to read how the chicks spread out and to check the crop. Here, as an expert, you run the week with a written programme, figures for each day and signs to check, on a flock of 2,000 chicks.
What you will learn- ✓Apply the first-week programme day by day: temperature, water, feed, light, brooder guard
- ✓Calculate the water and feed expected for your flock each day and spot a gap the same day
- ✓Read the eight signs that say the start is succeeding, and act on the ones that are missing
- ✓Weigh on day 7, calculate the average and the uniformity, and judge the flock with the School's benchmarks
Lesson outline- The week's programme, day by day
- The temperature curve: why you lower it, and how
- Water: the consumption that must rise every day
- Feed and light: from trays to feeders, from 23 h to 20 h
- The eight signs that say all is well
- The day 7 weighing: the flock's first report card
- Going further
Key points- •The week 1 programme is written before arrival: temperature, water, feed, light, guard, day by day; the flock is compared to this programme every day.
- •Temperature under the brooder: 33-34 °C D1-3, then −0.5 °C a day down to 30-31 °C on D7; in hot weather, curtains open from 10 h and brooders off in the hot hours; you judge at night, by the spread.
- •Water rises every day: 40 L on D1, 100 L on D7 for 2,000 chicks (× 1.2 to 1.5 in hot weather); a drop is an alert to deal with within the hour; water-to-feed ratio 1.8 to 2.
- •Starter feed: 160 g per chick in the first week, that is 7 bags for 2,000, in small frequent amounts; trays D1-3, tube feeders from D3-4, trays removed D6-7; light 23 h then 20 h on D7.
- •D7 weighing: 50 to 100 birds, 3 places; target 4 times the arrival weight (160-180 g for 41 g), uniformity ≥ 80%; example: 8,400 g ÷ 50 = 168 g = 4.1 ×, 42 out of 50 within 151-185 g = 84%.
14 min read · 5-question quiz
- 6Weeks 2 to 4: widening the guard, changing feed phases, ventilating, weighing
On day 7, the flock weighs four times its arrival weight: the start is won. This is when many farmers relax their attention, and yet it is between day 8 and day 28 that the chick becomes a 1.4 kg chicken that multiplies its weight by eight, changes feed twice, goes from 17 m² to 400 m² and begins to give off enough heat and moisture to turn the house into an oven. This lesson gives the programme for the three weeks, the surface and bag calculations, the complete weighing method and the benchmarks that say, every week, whether the flock is holding its curve.
What you will learn- ✓Apply the programme for weeks 2 to 4: temperature, surface, feed, water, light, equipment
- ✓Calculate the surface to give the flock each week and free the house at the right pace, at the density NEXTEKCI advises in hot weather
- ✓Move from starter to grower feed without a dip in appetite and track the cumulative bags
- ✓Weigh 50 to 100 birds every week, calculate average, uniformity, CV and gap to target, and decide
Lesson outline- The programme for weeks 2 to 4
- Widening the guard, then freeing the house
- Moving from starter feed to grower feed
- Ventilating: heat, moisture, ammonia, litter
- Weighing every week: average, uniformity, CV, gap to target
- Equipment that grows with the chickens, and expected mortality
- Going further
Key points- •Weeks 2 to 4: 28-30 °C, then 26-28, then 24-26 at night; heat off by day; the flock heats the house after D14 and the work becomes ventilating, from the top before 14 days.
- •Surface for 2,000 white broilers: 67 m² on D7 (30 per m²), 133 m² on D14 (15), 400 m² on D21 (5 per m², NEXTEKCI's advice in hot weather; suppliers 8 to 10 per m² under controlled conditions); curtain moved back every two days, equipment moved the evening before.
- •Starter → grower transition over 4 days in the bucket (75/25, 50/50, 25/75, 100%) around D11-D14; cumulative bags for 2,000: 7 on D7, 24 on D14, 50 on D21, 84 on D28.
- •Weekly weighing: 50 to 100 birds, 3 places, same day and time; D14: 21,000 g ÷ 50 = 420 g, −1.2% to target, 41 out of 50 within 378-462 g = 82%, CV about 9.5%; D21 at 720 g = −15%, serious: causes searched the same day, reweighing at 3 days.
- •Litter dry on the handful test, no ammonia stinging at chicken height, feed in the cool hours; mortality 0.2 to 0.5% a week, 2 to 2.5% cumulative on D28; more than 1% in a day = veterinarian of the area.
15 min read · 5-question quiz
- 7Starting mortality: what is normal, what is not, and when to call
In every flock, a few chicks die in the first days: the journey, a chick weaker than the others, a start that was one hour late. That is not a failure, it is the trade. The failure is not knowing from which figure it is no longer normal, and waiting one more day 'to see'. This lesson gives you the normal curve of the first 30 days for the three types of chick, the method for reading each death (when, where, which, how), the signs that require the veterinarian of your area, and the rule that saves flocks: today's signal is called in today.
What you will learn- ✓Calculate the mortality and the viability of a flock on the number received, day by day and cumulatively, and compare them with the normal 30-day curve
- ✓Recognise abnormal mortality by its figure, its date, its zone and the position of the dead
- ✓Tell a management cause (cold, heat, water, feed, piling up) from a health sign that requires the veterinarian of the area
- ✓Call at the right time with the right information, and handle dead and culled chicks properly
Lesson outline- Four words to count correctly
- The normal curve of the first 30 days
- Two worked calculations: the normal flock and the flock that alerts
- Reading a death: when, where, which, how
- Health signs: describe, do not treat
- When to call, whom to call, what to send
- Handling the dead and the culls, every day
- Going further
Key points- •Everything is calculated on the starting count (live chicks counted when the boxes are opened); dead and culls on two separate lines; viability = 100% − dead − culls.
- •Normal curve for the white broiler: peak on days 2 to 4, ≈ 1% at 7 days (tolerable 1.5%), 0.2 to 0.5% per week afterwards, 2 to 3% at 30 days; coloured chicken 1.5 to 2.5%; brown layer 1 to 2%.
- •Abnormal: more than 1% in one day after day 1, more than 2% at 7 days, mortality rising again after day 7, dead grouped in one zone, water intake falling.
- •Read each death with four questions (when, where, which, how): a management cause is corrected within the hour and mortality stops; otherwise it is a health sign to describe to the veterinarian of the area, never to treat yourself.
- •Today's signal is called in today: veterinarian of the area for health signs, NEXTEKCI adviser (+225 05 44 83 27 79) for management, with the complete record, photos and a short video.
14 min read · 5-question quiz
- 8The 10 mistakes of the first month and how to avoid them
Flocks that start badly all look alike. Following hundreds of starts from NEXTEKCI in Agnibilékrou, you almost always find the same ten mistakes, in the same order: they begin before the chicks arrive, hide in everyday actions and show up too late, on the day 7 scale or in the bucket of dead chicks. This lesson takes them one by one: what is done, why it happens to serious people, what it costs in chicks and in kilos, how it shows on the flock record, and the precise action that avoids it. Read it before the next order, not after.
What you will learn- ✓Recognise the ten most frequent mistakes of the first 30 days and the moment when each one is made
- ✓Quantify what each mistake costs in chicks lost and in kilos not produced, on a flock of 2,000 white broilers
- ✓Read on the flock record the sign that betrays each mistake before it costs
- ✓Apply the prevention action for each one, at the right moment of the flock calendar
Lesson outline- Why serious people make these mistakes
- Mistakes 1 and 2: before the chicks even leave
- Mistakes 3 and 4: water and access points
- Mistakes 5 and 6: heat, the guard, the night and the air
- Mistakes 7 and 8: feed and the scale
- Mistakes 9 and 10: the record and the telephone
- Going further
Key points- •The ten mistakes are made mostly before arrival and in the calendar: a date that does not come from the house, heating lit too late, manufacturers' density (8 to 10 per m²) instead of the 5 per m² NEXTEKCI recommends in the hot season.
- •Water first, at room temperature, within a quarter of an hour; 1 drinker for 50 to 80 and 1 tray for 50 chicks; count and divide the day before.
- •Heat lowered by 2 to 3 °C per week, guard widened every day from D3 and removed D7-D10, night rounds until D7, high opening always open, two minutes crouched every evening.
- •Feed transition over 4 days, bags dry on pallets, distributions at dawn and after 5 pm; weighing of 50 to 100 chicks at day 7 compared with four times the arrival weight: a delay at day 7 is almost never made up.
- •The record kept at every round is the tool that reveals the other nine mistakes; the call thresholds are written at the top, today's signal is called in today, and nothing goes into the water without written advice from the veterinarian of the area.
14 min read · 5-question quiz
- 9Field exercise: keep the record of the first 30 days of a flock
Everything you have learned in the previous eight lessons fits on a single sheet: the flock record. Every day it says whether the heat was right, whether water went up, whether the feed was eaten, how many chicks died and why. Without it, you tell the story of the flock from memory and you get it wrong; with it, you read the flock in two minutes and you act the same day. This exercise has you keep, on your own flock or on the example flock of 2,000 chicks, the complete record of the first 30 days, and above all teaches you to read it.
What you will learn- ✓Build the record of the first 30 days: header, daily table, weekly weighings, summary
- ✓Record the six columns every day at the moment of the action, with the right equipment
- ✓Read the record with the five readings and decide, with worked examples
- ✓Write the brooding summary on day 30: liveability, weight, feed, and what to change for the next flock
Lesson outline- What the exercise teaches you, and the equipment it needs
- Step 1: the header, filled in before arrival and completed on day 1
- Step 2: the daily table, from day 1 to day 30
- Step 3: the weekly weighings
- Reading the record: the five readings and two worked examples
- The brooding summary on day 30
- Going further
Key points- •The record of the first 30 days has three parts: the header with the zero point (received, dead on opening, arrival weight), the six-column daily table, the weekly weighings; it is filled in at the moment of the action.
- •The five readings every evening: is water going up, is mortality within the curve (≈ 1 % on D7, 2 to 3 % on D30), is weight on target (4 times the arrival weight on D7), is the water-to-feed ratio stable, did every observation get its action.
- •Percentages are always calculated on the number received: 21 deaths out of 2,000 = 1.05 %; liveability = (received − dead and culled) ÷ received × 100.
- •The signal of the day calls the same day: water falling, deaths rising or abnormal droppings → check within the hour, veterinarian of the area, photos to +225 05 44 83 27 79.
- •The day 30 summary fits in six lines and ends with what you change for the next flock.
14 min read · 5-question quiz
- 10Case study: a flock that starts badly, turning the situation around before day 10
One Friday morning in March, 2,000 white broiler chicks arrive at a farm near Abengourou. The chicks are good: 41 g, uniform, 8 dead on opening out of 2,000. Three days later, the record counts 46 deaths, 26 of them on the Sunday alone. Nothing is lost yet, but everything is decided in the hours that follow. This lesson goes through this flock from the Friday to the tenth day: the clues, the reasoning with the grids of the previous lessons, the recovery plan written on the Sunday evening, the day-by-day follow-up, and what should have been done before. It is the typical exercise of this specialisation's exam.
What you will learn- ✓Spot, in a record of the first three days, the clues that say the flock is starting badly
- ✓Reason with the grids for distribution, crop fill, water and mortality to name the causes in order of weight
- ✓Write a recovery plan in ten dated, checkable lines, and follow it through to day 10
- ✓Quantify what the bad start cost, without a single amount of money, and say what should have been done before
Lesson outline- The situation: good chicks, a house that was not ready
- The clues, day by day, from Friday to Sunday
- The reasoning: reading the clues with the grids of lessons 4, 5 and 7
- The decision on Sunday evening: the recovery plan in ten lines
- The follow-up, from day 4 to day 10
- The day 10 summary: quantifying without a single amount, and what should have been done before
- Going further: the exam and the specialisation certificate
Key points- •A flock that starts badly can be read from the first evening: crop under 80 % at 8 h, less than 32 °C under the brooder, cold feet, huddled chicks; three red readings are worth a plan the same evening.
- •Dead in heaps in the morning = cold; dead at the edges in the afternoon = heat; wrinkled legs and water that does not rise = dehydration; normal droppings = not a disease first, but more than 1 % in one day calls the veterinarian of the area the same day.
- •The recovery plan: ten lines, each with a figure, a time and a means of checking, in the order of the causes; here four brooders, 32 drinkers, water in the shade, curtains at 10 am, night watch, weighing brought forward.
- •Turned around on day 3, the flock gets back to normal mortality on day 6 but keeps a weight delay of 8 to 10 %: 65 chicks and about 285 kg of live chicken lost, without a single amount of money.
- •The chicks were good (41 g, uniform, 0.4 % on opening): you correct what acted (checklist, preheating, brooders, water, night), not what is visible.
15 min read · 5-question quiz
Frequently asked questions
What temperature do day-old chicks need?
32 to 34 °C under the edge of the brooder, measured at chick height (5 to 10 cm above the floor), with litter at 30-32 °C and 28 to 30 °C in the rest of the area, for the first three days. You then lower it by about 2 to 3 °C per week: 30-32 °C on days 4 to 7, 28-30 °C in the second week, 26-28 °C in the third, 24-26 °C in the fourth. The heating is switched on 24 to 48 hours before arrival, because it is the floor that must be warm: up to five days of age, the chick does not regulate its own temperature. The NEXTEKCI School (Agnibilékrou) teaches above all to read the chicks: huddled under the heat, they are cold; pressed against the edges with open beaks, they are too hot; spread out everywhere, all is well.
How do I receive NEXTEKCI chicks in Abidjan, Bouaké or Daloa?
NEXTEKCI does not transport the chicks itself: professional carriers leave NEXTEKCI in Agnibilékrou on Monday and Thursday evenings on three routes, arriving on Tuesday and Friday mornings. Route 1: Agnibilékrou, Daoukro, Bouaké. Route 2: Agnibilékrou, Bongouanou, Dimbokro, Yamoussoukro, Bouaflé, Daloa. Route 3: Agnibilékrou, Abengourou, Akoupé, Adzopé, Abidjan (Yopougon). You pick up your boxes at the arrival of the route, at the point agreed with the carrier, who tells you his rate per box. If your town is not on a route, you collect in Agnibilékrou, at the arrival of the nearest route, or you send your own carrier: the chicks are available throughout Côte d'Ivoire. Orders are placed on WhatsApp at +225 07 07 72 78 67.
When should newly arrived chicks be given feed and water?
Water first, as soon as the boxes are opened, then feed two to three hours later. The chick has travelled on the reserve of its yolk; what it lacks is water: clean, at room temperature, never iced, placed in the drinkers two hours before arrival; you dip the beaks of a few chicks and the others follow. The starter feed, as fine crumbs, is then served on paper and trays, in small renewed quantities. The proof that it works is the crop, the soft pouch at the base of the neck: at 8 hours, at least 8 chicks out of 10 have it full and soft; at 24 hours, more than 9 out of 10. Below that, the NEXTEKCI School (Agnibilékrou) teaches to look for the cause the same day: heat, light, drinkers.
How many chicks normally die in the first week?
About 1% of the chicks received, that is about twenty out of 2,000, and up to 1.5% remains acceptable: these are the weak chicks and the tiredness of the journey, mostly on days 2 to 4, after which mortality falls to almost zero by day seven. At 30 days, a well-managed white broiler flock loses 2 to 3% in total, coloured chickens 1.5 to 2.5%, brown layers 1 to 2%. It becomes abnormal above 1% in a single day after the first day, 2% cumulated at seven days, when it rises again after day seven, or when it comes with empty crops, listless chicks despite good heat or abnormal droppings. The NEXTEKCI School (Agnibilékrou) then teaches the same-day rule: call the local veterinarian, never wait until the next day.
How many chicks per square metre at the start and afterwards?
In the first days, the chicks live inside a brooder guard (a circle around the heat source) at 40 to 50 per square metre, that is a circle about 4 metres across for 500 chicks and one brooder; the guard is widened every day from day three and disappears around day seven to ten. For the whole house, the manufacturers indicate 8 to 10 broilers per square metre under controlled conditions; NEXTEKCI advises 5 per square metre in the hot season in Côte d'Ivoire, in an open-sided house. A house of 8 metres by 50 (400 m²) therefore receives 2,000 chicks, a house of 8 by 30 (240 m²) receives 1,200. The NEXTEKCI School teaches to order from the floor area, and not the other way round.
How do I recognise a good day-old chick?
In a few seconds, when the box is opened, then by picking up a few chicks from several boxes. A good chick weighs between 38 and 45 grams, stands up, is lively, reacts to noise and light, has round bright eyes, a well-closed navel, dry and covered with down, straight legs that are shiny and waxy to the touch (dry, wrinkled legs say it is thirsty), and dry, long, clean down. A well-sorted batch is uniform: chicks of the same size start and grow together. The NEXTEKCI School (Agnibilékrou) teaches to weigh about 5% of the boxes on arrival to set the starting weight: a well-started white broiler weighs about four times that weight on day seven.
Are NEXTEKCI chicks vaccinated?
The brown layers are vaccinated against Marek's disease at NEXTEKCI in Agnibilékrou, with a certificate on request. The other chicks (white broilers, coloured chickens, cockerels) receive no vaccine before leaving: vaccination is done on the farm, according to the protocol of the veterinarian of your area, who is best chosen before the chicks arrive. The NEXTEKCI School teaches no medical care and names no product: it teaches to describe what you see, to keep the flock record and to call at the right time. A vaccine only protects a well-managed flock: heat, clean water, dry litter and daily watching remain the first protection of the chicks.
What weight should a broiler chick reach at 7 days and at 30 days?
A well-started white broiler chick weighs about four times its arrival weight on day seven: 160 to 180 grams for a chick received at 41 grams. The next benchmarks, in an open-sided house in a hot climate, are 400 to 450 grams at 14 days, 800 to 900 grams at 21 days and 1,300 to 1,450 grams at 28 days; a coloured chicken reaches about 600 to 700 grams at 28 days, a brown layer 250 to 280 grams. These values vary with the season, the feed and the management: the NEXTEKCI School (Agnibilékrou) teaches to weigh 50 to 100 birds every week, to calculate the average and the uniformity, and to act as soon as a gap exceeds 5%, because a delay at day seven is almost never made up.
In conclusion
By the end, you receive your chicks like a professional: house warm since the day before, water at the right temperature, count and starting number recorded, crops checked at 8 hours and at 24 hours. You know, on day seven, whether the flock has started well, and on day ten, what to correct if it has not. Your record of the first 30 days tells the truth of the flock before the sale reveals it. The exam awards the 'The day-old chick: the first 30 days' specialisation certificate, issued privately by NEXTEKCI.
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